


A Pretty Good Sign of Potential

by laufey



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent, ssss
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 15:37:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3697685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laufey/pseuds/laufey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would make Sigrun think nobody dying on the first mission was promising? Maybe all the times when things went wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pretty Good Sign of Potential

_"...I mean it's ok to shoot if there really is no other way around it but that means you've put the whole team in danger and we'll have to evacuate quickly. Everything understood?"_

The new hunters stood still, looking somewhat eager and nervous at the same time. There wasn't much to see yet to be honest, just more trees and rocks and the climb ahead would take a while before they'd reach their destination. They wouldn't be taken to a hot spot, new as they were, but it was not at all unlikely that they'd come across a beast or a troll at some point because that was also the point. Take them somewhere, show them what they'd been learning for, see how they'd do.

Later on they returned and not a single one of the new hunters had been lost. One of the teachers, however, was never found.

***

He was talented, anyone could see that. His reflexes were lightning sharp and somehow he always knew whether to fight or flee and it was often said he would one day become something big, someone important.

Sigrun hung onto him, trying to pull him back with all her might. A weird mixture of noises filled the air; it took her a while to realize that she was screaming, her friend was screaming, that bones made a loud crunch as they broke and that blood pouring out actually hissed, steaming in the cold air before hitting the wall somewhere above.

He was gone soon. For all his talent and skill he lacked but one thing, luck.

***

Now it was much later - it felt like an eternity had passed since those early days. She was a seasoned hunter herself and what irony that for once it was her that was being hunted. She ran faster than ever in her life, her breath freezing into puffs that disappeared somewhere above and death was right at her heels.

And then the world simply gave up and fell away, plunging Sigrun and the giant both into the icy waters below. For a moment the coldness struck the air out of her lungs and wrapped itself around her. She felt the current grab at her feet and kicked against it until her outstretched hands met something cold and unyielding, the underside of the ice. The current had taken her away from the place where she had gone through, she realized with a twinge of panic, and she squinted her eyes to see if there was a tiniest hint of light anywhere that would tell her where to go but alas, the waters of cold season are dark and unhelpful and prefer to keep whoever is given to them.

Finally, as she was already preparing to give up and black spots were swimming across her vision, her fingers met the edge of the ice. She could barely grab at it, frozen as her hands already were, but some weird strain of anger rose from the bottom of her stomach as she decided it fucking wouldn't be this for her, not now and not here. The thought forced her up, and gasping for air she managed to grab her knife and stick it as deep into the ice as she could. Little by little she half dragged herself and half crawled back on the top of the ice, rolled away from the thaw and broken ice and eventually stood back up and started to run again on numb and frost-bitten feet. Coldness could kill a hunter just as efficiently as a giant could and she wasn't safe yet.

***

The fire laid a gentle sheet of warmth over everyone's faces as they sat in silence, staring into the flames. It was strange how no one ever knew what to say, no matter how many times they had to do this. Someone tried to pat her on the shoulder but she pushed the hand away, for now she only wanted to be left alone.

***

The smell was always the same, she mused, trying to catch her breath. There'd be the metallic hint of blood, the smoke of explosions that liked to stick into the clothes and be carried around, dust, dirt, and of course someone might throw up or worse, but it all blended into the familiar stink of a fight now over. This time they hadn't lost anybody which was definitely a huge plus, and everything considered this told her something important about her new team: they were lucky. They were the sort that were capable of coming through impossible odds. Sigrun pressed her forehead to the comforting coolness of the wall and smiled faintly for no reason in particular as she thought that things could have gone much, much worse, but for once they hadn't.


End file.
